Building Cornell University Library’s Collections

Food, Wine and Gastronomy

The Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections offers outstanding research materials on the history of food, cookery, wine, and gastronomy. Prominent among Cornell’s food history collections are an assemblage of more than 3,000 rare cookery books from the fifteenth century to the present; the Eastern Wine and Grape Archive, dedicated to preserving the history of the wine industry east of the Mississippi; and a collection of more than 10,000 international restaurant menus.

Cookbooks, menus, books on household management, and related works provide scholars with compelling glimpses of cultural evolution. These materials not only chronicle the history of food and eating habits, but also help document shifting social boundaries, changing patterns of family life, ethnic identities, and national aspirations and values.

James B. Herndon, Jr. and Joseph Dommers Vehling

Cornell University Library’s growing collections on the history of food and wine have their origins in the personal collections of Joseph Dommers Vehling and James B. Herndon, Jr., two dedicated collectors associated with the food and hospitality industries, who donated their books to Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration Library.

James B. Herndon, Jr. was a former Vice-President of the Hilton Hotels Corporation, treasurer of the Waldorf-Astoria Corporation, and chairman of the American Hotel Association. He bequeathed his collection of rare books on cookery and culinary subjects to Cornell in 1953. Joseph Vehling, a chef and food historian, lectured at Cornell in the 1930s on the “History of the Culinary Arts.” His collection of several hundred rare cookery titles arrived at Cornell in 1959.

As collectors, Vehling and Herndon were passionate about preserving food and wine history. Over the past sixty years, alumni and friends have enriched their original gifts, and the Library’s collections on food and wine have been augmented with funds provided by the Class of 1956 Rare Book Endowment Fund.

Coronation Festival for Charles VI. Beschreibung was auf Ableiben Weyland Ihrer Keyserl Majestät Josephi ... sich Merkiwu_rdiges hat zugetragen. Gedruckt zu Wien in Oesterreich: Bey Johann Jacob Kürner, [1712].
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This work describes the funeral of Emperor Franz Joseph I and the ceremony of homage of the Austrian estates to the new Emperor Charles VI. The superb engravings depict the new Emperor’s banquet, with Charles VI and his court seated at long tables laden with food, wine, and centerpieces.

Class of 1956 Rare Book Endowment

Fannie Merritt Farmer. What to Have for Dinner. New York: Dodge Pub. Co., 1905.
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The early twentieth century saw an increasingly professional approach to the teaching of cookery. Influential graduates of the Boston Cooking School, such as Fannie Farmer, spread the school’s teachings in restaurants, classes, and a variety of publications. Their recipes marked a new era of professionalism, detail, and clarity in cookbooks, establishing the format we know today.

Gift of James B. Herndon, Jr.

La Cuisine Creole. A Collection of Culinary Recipes from Leading Chefs and Noted Creole Housewives, Who Have Made New Orleans Famous for its Cuisine. New York: W. H. Coleman, [1885].
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From the early nineteenth century onwards, New Orleans has enjoyed a reputation as one of the best restaurant cities in the country. Long before the rest of America discovered the pleasures of French food, New Orleans offered a sophisticated cuisine not found anywhere else in the country.

Gift of James B. Herndon, Jr.

The Heinz Book of Salads. Pittsburgh, PA: H.J. Heinz Co., 1925.
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Cornell’s Eastern Wine and Grape Archive

In 1998, Cornell University established the Eastern Wine and Grape Archive to document the history of wine makers, grape growers, and associated industry participants. The Eastern Wine and Grape Archive collects and preserves books, documents, and archival records about these industries and makes them available for scholars, industry members, and the public. Despite the steady growth of the American wine industry over the nineteenth century, and its explosive growth during the last decades of the twentieth century, Cornell University is the only institution with an ongoing program to document the history of the production and consumption of wine in the United States.

Andre Jullien. The Topography of all the Known Vineyards; Containing a Description of the Kind and Quality of Their Products, and a Classification. Translated from the French. London: G. and W.B. Whittaker, 1824.
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This early nineteenth-century book on wine aims to serve as a “useful guide for both merchants and individuals in making their purchases.” The author classifies wines using a five-level scheme, and provides a survey of the type and quality of the wines of every wine-producing nation, along with a glossary of terms and a list of import duty costs. This is the first English edition, translated from the French edition published in 1816.

Gift of James B. Herndon, Jr.

Henry Vizetelly. A History of Champagne. With Notes on the Other Sparkling Wines of France. London: Vizetelly; New York, Scribner & Welford, 1882.
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Henry Vizetelly. Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines. London: Ward, Lock, and Co., 1879.
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Class of 1956 Rare Book Endowment

Henry Vizetelly. The Wines of the World Characterized & Classed: With Some Particulars Respecting the Beers of Europe. London: Ward, Lock & Tyler, 1875.
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Gift of James B. Herndon, Jr.

Ambrose Cooper. The Complete Distiller. London: Printed for P. Vaillant ...; and R. Griffiths ..., 1757.
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This guide to distilling liquor was republished several times through the first quarter of the nineteenth century.

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